The Coffee Stop

The dozens of conversations around me distracted my attention from the book I was reading. The coffee shop was on the second floor of the bus station and it was crowded and busy.  Most people sitting there were travelers who were too keen on catching the first bus home that they sat there passively sipping from their coarse coffee glasses. To kill the hours before their buses arrive, they carefully watched an action movie. It was in English but had Arabic dubbing. My roommate’s words suddenly  broke the silence of my  observations. “What’s propagation in Arabic?,” he asked. He was carefully studying his cellular phone, tediously scribbling some notes on a napkin.

I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but decided to mind my own business. “Intishar,” I replied and went back to reading the book I brought for the trip: Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. That was the fourth or fifth time I read it. After reading it for the fourth time, I came to realize it was overrated, but then again, who am I to judge a noble prize-winning chef-d’oeuvre? I was growing more and more irritated by the smoke of the cigarette coming from the guy sitting to my left. He was in his middle forties, skinny and with a thick mustache. He nodded his head when I looked at him as if recognizing I was annoyed by the smoke of his Marquise cigarette, but he was determined to finish it to the last breath. I remembered an article about passive smoking and the hazards it has on one’s lungs. “That’s why smoking should be banned in public spaces,” I thought “as is the case in the United States,” but I quickly reminded myself that I was not in the United States but in Morocco. Banning smoking in Moroccan cafes would defy their very purpose; doing so would certainly bring their stagnation.

I looked at my watch. It was 11:07 p.m. It was high time we got into the coach to find us some premium seats, otherwise we’ll have to sit on smuggled winter sheets and what not. “Shall we?” I said, slowly reaching for my hand bag. “Let’s go,” my friend replied, reaching for the bill.